


Secret Friend Day 3.0

by StrictlyStructured



Category: LazyTown
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-10 17:33:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12304134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrictlyStructured/pseuds/StrictlyStructured
Summary: Robbie attempts to mute the kids; it backfires and he ends up being the one muted. Sportacus realizes Robbie's dilemma and attempts to teach him to sign.





	1. Chapter One (creative, I know)

It wasn't unusual for Robbie to spend several days down in his lair. It wasn't unusual for Robbie to spend those days sleeping, or inventing, or doing any number of things. It was unusual, however, for Robbie to have been quiet for an entire week. 

Even if most of his time was spent doing something else, he could usually be heard saying something to himself, or he'd poke his head out to yell at the kids for being too loud. This week, he not only hadn't been seen; he hadn't been heard. 

Sportacus was very worried. He'd been worried since the third day they hadn't seen Robbie. No matter how often Robbie would disappear for a few days, it would always worry Sportacus; it was just in Sportacus's nature. Sportacus always managed to calm himself by saying that if Robbie was gone for a full week he'd go to check on him. It'd always end before then. 

Robbie would be seen slinking his way across town to the ice cream cart, or he'd pop up for a plot, or he'd just come outside for some fresh air (something he'd never admit to doing, but Sportacus had seen him do it several times). Not this time. Robbie hadn't even been seen to get ice cream, and no one had seen anything being delivered to his door. No noise. 

Today was the last day of the week, and Sportacus was counting down the minutes until the kids had to go home. He enjoyed playing with them, sure, but all he could seem to think about is the possibility that Robbie was hurt. His crystal didn't always go off when Robbie was hurt. He'd realized this shortly after arriving in Lazytown. He still didn't know why, and that made him even more anxious.

"Sportacus!" Sportacus turned his focus back to the kids. He felt guilty for not having focused on the game they'd been playing, and snapped his attention back to the  
basketball game as best he could; whatever the situation with Robbie, it couldn't change that much within an hour.

Sportacus tapped once on the top of Robbie's lair; he waited....and waited...and then tapped again, harder. 

"Robbie?" Nothing. Sportacus reached for the top of the lid, struggling to get a grip before easily flipping the lid open. "Robbie!" He called down, just to be sure. "I'm coming down!" 

Sportacus jumped in. He'd never been inside of Robbie's lair before; he couldn't help the yell that he let out as he descended down the shoot, unprepared. He landed harshly, but at least it was onto his feet. He looked around for a moment, amazed at how huge Robbie's lair really was.

"Robbie?" The sound echoed, coming back tenfold and causing Sportacus to flinch. No wonder he didn't like for the kids to make much noise. Down here, it must sound like a tornado every time the kids ran around. Sportacus took a few tentative steps forward. Could this be a trap? Robbie hadn't ever done a trap quite like this, but it wouldn't be too far of a reach. Sportacus saw something out of the corner of his eyesight and spun to see it. 

"Robbie?!" It was Robbie, but he looked...small. Normally, Robbie would be leering over Sportacus, maybe glaring at him or gesturing wildly and telling him to leave. Instead, he was curled up tightly, his face completely in his knees. It looked like he was shaking. "Robbie?" Sportacus said, this time attempting to be gentler in tone. He crouched down, peering at the man with interest.

"Are you okay?" Robbie just shook his head, his face still pressed into his knees. That pose looked uncomfortable. "Robbie, you're going to hurt your back doing that. Please come out and let me look you over. I'm sure I can help." 

Robbie jerked his head up, revealing that he'd been crying- no, sobbing. There was snot trailing down from his nostrils; his skin was flushed a dark red; he had fresh tear stains on his cheeks. Not a very pretty site. He moved his mouth as if to yell at Sportacus, but nothing came out. That just confused Sportacus more. Robbie didn't seem hurt; sure, he'd been crying, but there were no visible marks on him that Sportacus could see. No blood. Nothing fatal. Thank goodness. That didn't mean it wasn't serious, though.

"Robbie?" Robbie whipped his head from side to side brutally; he wanted to appear angry, but it came out looking sadder than anything. "Are you able to stand?"

Robbie almost gave another head shake, just to scare Sportacus, but when he realized how scared the other really looked he gave a little nod.

"Could you stand for me, Robbie? I need to check on your injuries." Robbie nodded again, giving what looked like a sigh before shifting to untangle himself to stand. His back made a popping noise; it was strange, almost as if the sound had been muffled. Sportacus furrowed his eyebrows, looking over Robbie. Robbie was wearing his usual outfit. There didn't appear to be any cut marks or blood stains on his clothes, and he'd stood just fine. "Robbie, can you point out what part of you hurts?"

Robbie gave a little smirk, pointing towards his lips, then his throat, and then his head.

"Have you lost your voice?" Sportacus's voice was quiet. Robbie held up his hand, shaking it from side to side; sort-of. What did that mean? Sportacus opened his mouth to ask, but then Robbie gestured towards a machine off in the corner, giving a look that said he thought Sportacus was the dumbest person he'd ever met. 

"Oh. Have you made yourself mute?" Robbie nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. Sportacus hadn't had any training on how to deal with something quite like this, but....Robbie had clearly been distressed; Sportacus struggled to come up with something that he could do to help. "Robbie...do you think that learning how to sign would help you until you get it fixed?" 

Robbie glared at Sportacus, not even bothering to uncurl his arms, jerking his head towards the machine and shaking his head harshly. 

"Oh..." Sportacus couldn't help feeling a little stupid. Of course, Robbie had tried fixing it. Robbie was a genius. He'd been trying to come up with a way to fix his situation. And why wouldn't he? 

"Okay, do you think learning to sign would help you in general?" Robbie seemed to consider it for a moment, his nose wiggling. He gave a little shrug, as if to say 'It couldn't hurt.', before bobbing his head.

 

"No, no, when you have your fingers separated like that, it's the same as yelling at me would be!" Sportacus sounded a bit exasperated. They'd been going over the alphabet for the past two hours, and yet Robbie kept repeating the same mistakes. It was almost as if he was doing it on pur- Robbie smiled mischievously, and Sportacus sighed and threw his hands up. 

"You know, if you're going to just mess around the entire time, why did you say yes? I'm trying to help, and you're making things hard." Even though he wasn't really yelling, and hadn't even raised his voice, the outburst felt very angry, as if there was more behind it. Robbie hadn't ever seen Sportacus that close to being angry before, and the site was somehow funny and scary at the same time. Robbie gave a little shrug.

"Robbie, if you really don't want to learn, I can leave you alone." Sportacus's words were almost....so very close to being....mean. Robbie beamed. He must have influenced  
Sportacus more than he'd thought. Robbie curled his main hand into an 'O', and then slipped his hand into a 'k'. He really did want to learn.

"Do you want to keep going?" Sportacus was much calmer now. Robbie gave a nod, feeling ashamed. Something a villain shouldn't be feeling, he reminded himself! If Sportacus was  
down here helping, he wouldn't be able to be up there telling the kids to play those loud sports. A win for Robbie.

"Okay." Sportacus continued on with the lesson. Robbie focused on Sportacus, trying to be a good student; something he'd never been the best at, even now. 

 

 

Robbie couldn't help but feel proud, even if his accomplishment was something as small as learning to sign the alphabet. It meant he was one step closer to being  
able to talk again!

Well....at least...with Sportacus. 

He didn't think anyone else in Lazytown knew how to sign; they'd never had a reason to learn, and he doubted they'd learn something like that for him. He was the town villain, after all. 

That dampened his mood, but not enough so that he didn't think he deserved an award. He gestured for Sportacus to stay right where he was, then got up and came back with a large piece of cake and some sportscandy; he'd had it in his fridge since that time he'd been attempting to buy chocolate and had somehow misdialed the number only to end up with huge piles of sportscandy. Things like that managed to happen to Robbie a lot more than they probably should. 

Robbie plopped down into his chair, leaning down to had the sportscandy to Sportacus, who was sitting in front of him. 

Not even Sportacus could stand forever! The thought made Robbie smile as he dug into the cake. He did what he always did when he ate a good piece of cake; he let out a 'mm-m'. The thing was; he couldn't make any noise, so it probably looked rather strange to Sportacus. Robbie didn't care.

"Thank you, Robbie." Sportacus smiled up at Robbie, taking a bite of one of the apples that Robbie had given him. Now that Robbie was thinking about it....he'd never seen Sportacus eat an entire apple before. That was...strange to think about. He watched Sportacus eat, hoping he wasn't being too obvious; Sportaloon might get ideas about why he was staring. Sportacus just kept eating the apple as if it was nothing, rocking a little.

Ugh, did the blue kangaroo ever stop moving, even when he was sitting?!

Robbie ate his cake slowly, letting himself enjoy it. It was a celebration cake, after all. That made it special. As he took the last bite of cake, Robbie glanced over at Sportacus; just barely catching him in the act of looking away. Was that....a blush? Was Sportacus blushing? Must be the lighting. 

Robbie set the now empty plate on his bedside table, leaning back into his chair and letting out what was supposed to be a sigh. He'd take a long time getting used to his own silence. 

Sportacus had somehow finished his entire apple, core and all, in the time it took Robbie to eat his cake, and now he was standing up and doing some stretches. Robbie closed his eyes, breathing out in what would normally be a huffy manner.

Sportacus never stopped, did he? Was he really that energetic? Was anyone really that bouncy? How could he move so much? Just watching him was making Robbie exhausted!

A few moments passed in relative silence, the only sound was the sound of Sportacus's movements and his gentle panting. It was nice to have things be so peaceful for once. No kids making enough noise to wake the dead. 

Robbie might even be able to....sleep....like...this...

 

 

Sportacus sighed, feeling revigorated. He couldn't believe he'd been sitting for so long! He hadn't been so still in a long time; at the same time, it made it even nicer to move around once he got up again.

He bounced from foot to foot, looking over at Robbie. He smiled. Robbie was asleep.

He looked so peaceful!

Sportacus took the plate that the cake had been on to what he thought was the kitchen, setting it aside on a counter. It'd been a long day, but it'd been worth it. The look on Robbie's face when he got a sign right was...

Sportacus didn't know. He couldn't even explain it to himself. 

He looked back over at Robbie, who had shifted and was moving his lips as though he was blabbering. That was his cue to go. Sportacus headed back up, surprised to find that it was well after his normal bedtime; the sun was down, and it'd grown cold. How had he not noticed?!

"Ladder!" Sportacus called up, thinking about how tired he'd probably be in the morning.


	2. Chapter Two

When Robbie woke up it was still dark, and he was alone, curled up under his little blanket. Just like any other night. As if nothing had been different. 

Robbie went over some letters, worried that he'd managed to imagine it all. He'd had dreams with Sportacus before, but this one was just odd. So odd, he was sure that it had been a dream; but no, he remembered his letters. Robbie looked around, hoping that there'd be some other sign that Sportacus had really been down in the lair last night. 

There was nothing!

Robbie stood up, his bones letting out a cloaked creaking at the sudden motion. It was so strange to have his bodily sounds muted like that. It was as though there was some sort of sound-blocking force field around him. He almost laughed at the thought. He wished he had something like that, so he could block the kids' and their noise. Then he'd get a bit more sleep- he was sure of it. 

His mind was already making a plan. Using this part from the age reducer...and that part from the muter... Robbie truly was a genius! He normally went with any idea he had, but after what had happened with the muter he was a little reluctant to try something so similar so soon. Perhaps another day. 

Robbie headed for his cake making machine; he could come up with a plan he could actually use over a large, three layer piece of chocolate cake. That always helped. He'd come up with some of his best plans over creamy cake. Once he was standing in front of the machine, Robbie noticed a plate sitting on the counter. 

Ah-ha! That was definitive proof that Sportacus had been there last night! Robbie never put his dishes anywhere close to the sink until they piled up! Robbie picked up the plate as if it might explode, taking a moment to look it over before taking it to the sink. His kitchen was in the back part of the lair, a part that most people wouldn't notice their first time down; otherwise, Sportacus would probably have put it in the sink. Robbie smiled at the idea that he'd kept Sportacus from doing something too nice. 

Robbie trudged back to his chair; in his musings about Sportacus, he'd completely forgotten the cake. Something that happened more often than it should. 

Had Sportacus' crystal gone off for him? Robbie doubted it. He remembered many times when he'd gotten hurt and Sportacus hadn't reacted.

So why had Sportacus come, then? Had he heard something? That was unlikely. Robbie had focused on reversing the muter; he hadn't built anything else. And he was mute, so of course he hadn't done any talking to himself! 

Had it been because he hadn't left his lair? No, he'd done that before and Sportacus hadn't ever checked on him. 

What was different about this time?

 

 

Sportacus got up bright and early, jumping up and getting himself a handful of grapes. He'd been wrong. He still felt energized, even after his late night with Robbie. If anything, he felt even more ready to face the day than ever before. He threw up a grape, flipping- and then stopping mid flip, only to land flat on his back. He'd forgotten about the other grapes!

Luckily, he'd been just in time, and none of them were crushed. He should be more careful. Sportacus did a half flip to get himself back upright, deciding to eat the grapes normally. He always did tricks when he ate or prepared for the day; truth be told, he liked doing tricks, even when the kids weren't there. It was relaxing. A form of working out, almost. 

Turn your workout into play, as they say! 

Sportacus didn't take long to finish the grapes, and once he did he called out for the ladder and climbed down quickly. The energy coursing through him felt different than usual. There was a sort of...nervousness...around it. 

His first instinct when he hit the ground was to check on Robbie. Robbie was fine. Sportacus had been with him late into the night, and Robbie had been fine the entire time! So why did he so badly want to see Robbie? 

Sportacus took a deep breath, not letting himself stay on that thought too long. He turned towards the sports field and started flipping towards it. Robbie wouldn't like being bothered this early in the morning, and then Sportacus wouldn't be allowed down into the lair to help Robbie. That's what it was about. Helping Robbie. 

Sportacus was snapped out of his thoughts once he got to the sports field. Stephanie was there, playing basketball alone. She didn't even notice Sportacus. 

"Stephanie!" Sportacus called out, wondering if something was wrong. Stephanie rarely ever seemed to be alone; she'd once told Sportacus that being alone was one of her least favorite things to be. So if she was alone...

His crystal didn't always go off for emotional distress. He jogged over, giving a little wave just as Stephanie looked up. She grinned and waved back. 

"Is something the matter?" Sportacus stopped just outside of the basketball court, bouncing from foot to foot. He didn't want to interrupt her game. 

"No! It's just that no one else is awake yet." Stephanie gave Sportacus a once over, almost as if she was sizing him up. She held out the ball. "Want to join me?"

Sportacus took a step forward without thinking, reaching out for the ball. 

"Of course. Would you like to play a round of horse?" He'd taught the kids to play it yesterday. It was a competitive game which required at least two players. Each player would attempt to take a shot, and if you missed you'd have to write down one of the letters in the word horse. The first person to finish the word lost. 

"Sure!" Stephanie handed over the ball. Sportacus started dribbling the ball, steadily walking towards the half court. "So...did you have somewhere to be yesterday? You seemed worried." 

Sportacus was a little impressed that she'd noticed. Every time she noticed something new, a small detail like that, Sportacus would get a strange mix of pride and a feeling he could only describe as "Oh no, she's growing up!"

"Yeah. I just went to check on Robbie." Sportacus hadn't lied to the kids before, and there was no reason to now. So why had the thought crossed his mind? 

"Oh. Is he okay?" Sportacus didn't want Stephanie to worry too much. 

"Yeah. One of his machines backfired, and now he can't talk...but he's not hurt!" Sportacus made a shot, angling it so he'd hit the rim on purpose. Stephanie trotted over to where the ball had landed as Sportacus stepped to the side to write his 'h' down for the game. 

"Do you think he's upset over it? Is that why he stayed home?" Sportacus beamed at Stephanie as she dribbled the ball back towards half court, happy to hear her so concerned over Robbie's health. She was a good kid. 

"I think so. He seemed very sad about it." Sportacus knew Robbie wouldn't like it if he told Stephanie that he'd caught him crying. Stephanie aimed the ball, seeming thoughtful. 

"Maybe we could visit him today. I'm sure that would lift his mood." Sportacus thought about it; Robbie was a strange person. He didn't always appreciate being bothered. Stephanie took the shot, making it in. She cheered, doing a unusual dance that was a mix of the chicken and the robot, but not quite a robot chicken. 

"That'll teach you to go easy on me!" Sportacus smiled to himself. She really was smarter than he gave her credit for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still working on this! I know it's been a while since I last updated, but I decided in the end that it'd be better to type it all out and edit it before uploading it. The whole story, all at once. It makes things easier for me!


End file.
